Also at Kos.
NBC’s Jim Miklashevski reported Wednesday morning that Mr. Bush has “all but decided” to send about 20,000 more troops to Iraq. One has to wonder what he’s “all but” still mulling over. Maybe he’s starting to wonder if any of his advisers know what they’re talking about. I know I would be, if I were Bush.
For a darn long time, he told us he would send more troops to Iraq if his commanders in the field said they needed them. His commanders in the field, most notably Central Command chief General John Abizaid and Iraq theater commander General George Casey, insisted for years that they didn’t need more troops. Now Abizaid and Casey are both boarding the train for Palookaville, making way for generals to be determined who will tell Mr. Bush that they do need more troops in Iraq.
Dubya, Can You Hear Me?
For years, the neoconservative anvil choir told us that if we set “timelines” for leaving Iraq, the evildoers would lie low and wait until we left. George Casey proposed what became known as the “stand up/stand down” strategy, and spoke about the possibility of a near term troop draw down, the violence in Iraq actually increased.
Now, the neocon cabal headed by Bill Kristol argues that a short-term surge of troops in Iraq won’t work because it will only drive the militants in Iraq into hiding until the ebb subsides, so the troop up-tick should be considered a long term strategy.
So which is it now, Mr. Kristol? Fewer troops will lead to more violence, but more troops will lead to less violence? What are those extra troops supposed to do? Be less violent than the troops who are already there? If that’s the case, why not instead send over a couple brigades of Hare Krishnas to pass out copies of the Bhagavad-gita in Sadr City and at the Baghdad Airport? If a bunch of Krishnas get blown up, no one will care, right?
The November elections sent Mr. Bush a loud message that the country has finally had it with his foreign policy and his handing of the war. Mr. Bush interpreted that message as a signal that America was sick and tired of partisan bickering. What Mr. Bush missed was that the election results signaled American was tired of him, and the rubber stamp GOP congress that rolled over for him like a Vegas hooker and let Bill Kristol’s neo-conspirators, with the capable help of Dick Cheney, form a shadow government that drives U.S. policy outside the control of the legislature and the electorate.
If Mr. Bush manages to push his escalation plan through Congress, our cherished republic will have “all but” gone the way of the carrier pigeon.
But many will argue that our cherished republic has all but gone that way already.
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Commander Jeff Huber, U.S. Navy (Retired) writes from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Read his commentaries at ePluribus Media and Pen and Sword.
